Kingdom Come Deliverance guide: walkthrough, tips and tricks

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an atypical roleplaying game even putting the lack of supernatural creatures aside. There’s a greater focus on simulation, and a much steeper learning curve – getting into it is not easy or overly intuitive, especially compared to the majority of games that tend to lead you by the hand. Explanations for Kingdom Come’s various systems are particularly hard to come by, so if you’d rather not bash your head (and indeed your lockpicks) against every secured door you see, then take a seat, pour yourself a Saviour Schnapps, and have a gander at our guide to the game. This article was updated on March 9th 2018 with another million side quests and things.

This is not a game where you’ll blindly follow the quest arrow until it takes you to your intended target (at least, not most of the time), and so in the table of contents below you’ll find walkthroughs for the main and side quests, with their various solutions and possibilities handily mapped out. We’ve also included a few general tips and explanations, to give you a leg up and gain more of a foothold in a harsh medieval world that really isn’t too fussed whether you live or die.

Words by Tom Sykes, based in part on rockpapershotgun.de articles by Sebastian Thor.

General tips and help

Don’t yet own Kingdom Come Deliverance and wondering whether it’s for you? Check out our Kingdom Come Deliverance review. If you’ve bought it already and want to ease yourself in, read on for some general tips…

In general: say goodbye to the idea of strolling around a relaxed fantasy playground. That’s not Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Simple things like a trip from point A to point B can not only strain your time and nerves, but also the body of the game’s protagonist, Henry. Be attentive during the opening quests, and read through all of the various text pop-ups carefully – you’ll learn a lot of useful facts about the game. Beyond that, don’t be afraid to consult the Tutorials tab in the Codex – there, all instructions and tips are stored and can be accessed after they’ve disappeared.

Saving: a particularly vital topic, given that you’re probably keen on shutting the game down now and again. As you may already know, Kingdom Come puts a limit on manual saving, first requiring that you possess a relatively pricey item called Saviour Schnapps. Autosaves are made during quests and (sometimes) when you take a kip in a bed, but they can be quite unreliably spaced out. What to do if you suddenly need to save then? (And you’re not keen on using mods to do so.)

You guzzle down that Saviour Schnapps, of course. This is generally found in taverns, either from the barkeep or a waitress, or behind the counter of a pharmacy. If you have any belladonna and stinging nettle lying around, you can also brew your own at an alchemical table, provided that you follow the necessary steps to the letter. One bottle of Saviour Schnapps allows you to save anywhere – either by drinking it from the inventory, or by selecting ‘Save’ from the pause menu – but uses up the beverage in the process. It also gets your character drunk. Well, it is alcoholic.

Unfortunately, this special booze is not particularly affordable, although the price does vary between suppliers. We’ve seen it on offer between 20 and 100 Groschen, so it’s worth shopping around for the best deal. The best deal, naturally, is to pay nothing for the liquid, by mastering the steps necessary to manufacture it yourself.

Quest markers: we’ve become used to games telling us exactly where to go in order to complete objectives, and precisely who to natter to for essential info. Kingdom Come doesn’t do this, at least not most of the time. In general, when you’re dispatched to an area to perform a specific deed or to chat to an individual, you’ll be sent to a vague yellow circle on the world map. This gives you only a small hint, the approximate location of the thing in question. Often enough, you’ll have to comb this yellow area to find the NPC, location or item you’re looking for.

World map and symbols: get familiar with the map and its myriad symbols quickly. The map itself is beautiful and stylishly drawn, but it’s also full of detail, its various symbols (once you know what they mean, at least) telling you where to find butchers, bakers, taverns, pharmacies, cobblers, shooting ranges, blacksmiths or whetstones. To discover what each icon represents, switch to the Legend tab while on the map screen.

Plan ahead: understanding where to find something when you need it is an essential skill in Kingdom Come, saving you a lot of time that would otherwise be spent blustering your way around. A small example: in the evening you’ll become tired and need to bed down somewhere, so be sure to have some accommodation lined up. After waking up you’ll feel recovered, but also hungry, so keep a bit of grub handy, or some spare cash so you can go and purchase a slap-up breakfast. Meanwhile, it pays to memorise the location of whetstones, as a blunted blade will do less damage – and it can be pricey to pay someone for the privilege of repairing it.

Much like in real life, your daily life in Kingdom Come is generally a matter of sticking to a schedule, so it will save plenty of time each day if you know where everything is located beforehand. Time you can spend on other pursuits, such as exploration, foraging or riding lessons.

Fast travel: while there is a form of fast travel in the game, it’s a little different to the one found in, for example, Skyrim. You can only travel to specific fast travel points – usually major cities – locations that will be marked out by a blue banner bearing a picture of a wheel. Click on these and Henry will make towards it, however it’s not as simple as instantly teleporting there. His physical needs including hunger and sleep will continue while he’s on the move, while time will pass inexorably as he marches forward. Take a little trip around the world on an empty stomach and you’ll pay the price when you finally arrive at your destination, so it’s better to stuff your gullet before embarking on a long voyage. (Also, for that matter, before a lengthy kip.)

You’ll watch Henry make the voyage from the comfort of the world map screen, instead of jumping directly to your destination as in many other games. In the process, he’ll occasionally stumble upon random events, be they an encounter with bandits, corpses ripe for plundering, or knights travelling with the intention of duelling you. These surprises can be pleasant, or a royal pain in the medieval arse, so if you’d rather just ignore them, you can whistle for your horse and scarper without engaging.

Player menu, buffs and character development: your character is the centerpiece of Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s medieval banquet. His skills define what you’re capable of and what kind of playing style you’re shaping for yourself. Accordingly, it’s important to keep an eye on and to understand Henry’s development. In general, skill advancement in Kingdom Come is based on the learning-by-doing principle. So if you’re doing something active you’ll be gradually getting better at it, be it riding, picking locks, hunting or potion-brewing. You can keep track of all these improvements on the Player screen, with the Stats, Combat, Skills, Buffs and Reputation tabs going into more granular detail. Increasing your skills and stats will add additional, permanent boons to your character, but it’s just as important to pay attention to your Buffs. These are effects that will temporarily affect your character, in both positive and negative ways.

Here are a few examples. If you’re starving and haven’t eaten for a while, your health will drop until you push something behind the gills. If you’re sent to jail – for instance, for walking around at night without a torch – your stats will be diminished for a bit. Meanwhile, if you insist on lugging too much stuff around, you’ll become over-encumbered and restricted, movement-wise. Whenever a new symbol appears next to the red life and yellow endurance bars, check the Buffs screen to see what it means.

Theft, property and murder: are equally important issues to be aware of. In this strict medieval world, you can’t just do whatever you feel (or at least, not if someone’s watching). For example, if you bust into a stranger’s house, a fade effect on the screen indicates unlawful entry into a private area. The inhabitants will warn you briefly before taking further steps – which can include reporting you to the guards. The same applies to theft: if you pinch an item in front of its owner, they’ll do everything in their power to get it back. And even if you steal an item without being noticed, you may still fall foul of a later pat-down from a guard.

Thankfully, stolen goods can be fenced, for example to Rattay’s Miller Woyzeck after you’ve completed The Good Thief side quest for his mate Peshek. If you have the resources and skills, a career in thieving can be quite lucrative – as long as you don’t get caught.

With these basics in mind, you should find it a little easier to get started with Kingdom Come Deliverance. You’ll still have problems here and there, but don’t be discouraged: should you find yourself in a hopeless situation, remember that you can always run away. It’s not what a hero would do, but you’re playing the rare game where you aren’t one.

honestly, i was apprehensive at first, too, but I really think that they made the right choice.

If quick saving was a thing, I would be experiencing this game in a massively different manner. Where I have failed tasks and continued on, only to discover delightful twists and turns – I would otherwise have simply reloaded until I succeeded.

Where I would have saved before a fight and reloaded until I won it, now I approach the prospect of combat with caution, seeking alternative method or to stack the odds in my favour. I struggled with a couple of well trained bandits and because of the save system, I went to the trouble of reporting to my commanding officer and wouldn’t you know – he rounded up the squad and we gave those bandits what-for together!

I’m sure it’s not for everyone – the game certainly encourages a different approach but I think it is worthwhile. I’d love it to save on exit though. That really is the only negative I have with the save system.

I cannot believe that RPS is promoting this medieval nazi simulator. You rightly criticized the women raping simulator from alt right nazi republican Richard La Ruina and you turn around and endorse a game by a Trump loving fascist Czech? Disgraceful.

Lol, like they would actually do anything tangible regarding this game like not covering it. They thrive off the controversy and you can tell that by the number of comments that articles on this game get compared to anything other than PUBG.

RPS has been publishing a series of articles on many games, XCOM, for example, had this same kind of series. If KCD also receives articles that point out historical inaccuracies in a game that rides on historical accuracy, I wouldn’t call it thriving off the controversy. I call it writing about a game that’s on the talks at the moment.

Is it? They’ve not pointed out the flaws with those works because they have no problems with the politics of the creators. It’s sad that most people seem to take umbrage at what is a very enjoyable game because of the politics of the lead dev. This is the same man who made Mafia 1, one of the most fondly remembered open word game of the early 00’s

Right, Xcom did get a series like this because they care about popularity. The game is getting a series of articles like this because it is popular and sold well according to steam charts. You didn’t see this type of article for Andromeda or South Park or any other recent RPG. The politics don’t come into account when they decide to write, just that it will get clicks which it will because controversy and popularity are colliding here. They could have spent their time writing articles for Divinity or any other recent AAA but those aren’t controversial.
So I ask you if they really have a problem with the politics of this game’s creator or the way it portrays history why continue to cover it at all?

Yes. The popularity of this and XCOM is exactly the reason for these series of articles. And by what I read about XCOM in RPS they also cared about the game.

I do not know if RPS really has a problem with the politics of this game’s creator. Most likely they aren’t on the same page on many things by what I’ve read on RPS in general and by what I’ve read about the game’s creator.

Instead of really answering your question I’m a bit annoying and ask you a follow-up question: If a web page covers one point of a popular came in a critical way, why couldn’t they write other articles about it any more?

I used your XCOM example to show that the reason they covered it was because of popularity(and their own enjoyment of the game) and to also allow you to see that those articles generated less comments and discussion.

They have also written multiple articles about the “historical inaccuracies” and problems with the creator’s viewpoints. I’m fine with them covering those aspects but this is a quest guide and not really news about anything new to the game. This only drives people to see more of the game or enjoy it further by making it more accessible than they may have originally.

There is nothing stopping them from writing the articles but it seems a little hypocritical to me to continue to profit from the coverage of something you find abhorrent when there are plenty of other options that also deserved coverage like this.

XCOM is a popular game and receives a series of articles. Among those criticism about the game (big performance issues). Fine.
KCD is a popular game and receives a series of articles. Among those criticism about the game (portrayal of history). Not fine.

Apparently KCD has received more criticism by your comment. I believe it. I’ve only read that one article not made by staff that had gazillion comments fighting about it. Still, my point remains the same as in my first post: If there are things you want to criticise about something, it does not mean that you should stop covering that something forever. That’s why these talks about hypocrisy or riding the controversy-wave are something I don’t get.

By what I’ve read about KCD in RPS (not that much, tbh), it clearly is not found abhorrent.

There are a lot of incorrect assumptions here, which I’ll try to address.

i) You suggest that we think Kingdom Come is abhorrent. We’ve never said that, however. Our review was filled with modest praise and some criticism, and the article we ran about historical accuracy was using KCD to talk about how real historical accuracy is broadly a fool’s errand because history doesn’t work that way. I don’t think it’s hypocritical to continue to cover a game we basically gave the equivalent of a 7/10 to.

ii) We haven’t written that article about Arma or Kerbal Space Program, that’s true. (For one, KSP doesn’t advertise itself as being 100% realistic.) We have however run similar articles about Assassin’s Creed, Battlefield 1, the Civilization series and more. So. It’s not unique to one developer and their politics. (Which yes, I think are awful.)

iii) Articles with lots of comments do not equal articles with lots of traffic. Articles about historical accuracy do relatively low traffic no matter how controversial the game. And the comments just create a ton of work, since we’re keen on moderation.

iv) Guides do traffic well. We’ve been trying to hire a guides editor for almost a year now, and we’re still advertising for the position. (I’m interviewing some folks at the moment and crossing my fingers.) We didn’t do guides on Divinity: Original Sin 2 because we don’t have a full-time guides writer and doing it using freelance writers is costly and time-consuming.

v) We did the KCD guide as an exception because RPS.de did it first, and that meant we just needed to translate it and do some re-writing. It made it more affordable and less time-consuming. It has nothing to do with the game being controversial. Yes, it does have something to do with the game being new and popular. We write about what we care about, but we also provide a service, and so we’re always walking that line between what we like and what our readers like.

Ok. This article doesnt give any explaination as to where I need to go for what. Which is sad because up to this point RPS has been pretty thurough with their directions as to where you need to go and what what you need to do.

They dont tell you who you need to talk to, at least where he is because there is no one by the names they give.

They dont give you cardinal directions.

This entire honey hut of the internet is exactly that. A honey hut. No one bothered to test or do research or write details on this and its shameful.